I *heart* it like WHOA.

[rubykatewriting]

NPR's "Three Books..." series is one of my favoritist things ever. I love the authors. I love the books and I love the whys behind the particular books they choose. I especially love the idea of making up my own list. It's sort of like the end of The Time Machine (I'm talking the 1960 version with that Aussie hotass Rod Taylor): which three books would you choose to rebuild civilization? Only with a smidge less pressure.

Anyway, yesterday I was driving to class when it came on and that in and of itself was awesome because I was nervous about getting back my first paper, but then - THEN! - I heard the author's name: Curtis Sittenfeld. She wrote Prep, this fish-out-of-water novel set in a prep school with Lee, a scholarship student from the Midwest, as our guide and society-skewer and follower. To say that I loved this novel would be putting it mildly. I ADORED IT. When iridescentglow, equally as enamored, posted about it (minor spoiler in that link, btw) just weeks after I had finished it and as I still lived in that awesome-book-afterglow, I was a wee bit overjoyed.

Anyway, her list was about so-called "chicklit." I, too, find myself immediately recoiling from anything remotely looking/sounding/whatevering like chicklit. Call me a snob, but as someone who aspires to publish one day, the fact that talentless crapsicles like Cecilia Ahern and Laura Weisberger get their drivel like P.S. I Love You and The Devil Wears Prada published (and made into films) causes me to make this face. Basically, Curtis chose books that were about women, about rich stories that don't necessarily involve finding happily ever after, and considering Prep, with the vivid way she rendered Lee’s internal life, I am definitely adding them to my ever-growing list of books to buy.

Comments

[briary-flower.livejournal.com]

Well, you were sure right about Scott Westerfeld, so I guess I'd better take your advice and read Prep. I read the Midnighters series and enjoyed them, so then I read the Peeps books, which I loved. I've almost finished the Uglies series - I'm on Extras.

In a somewhat similar vein to Three Books, the CBC does a battle of the books every year, with celebrities championing books of their choice, until they get down to one book and Canada is supposed to read it. Which it generally does, because apparently Canada Reads. And here's a list of all the celebs and their book choices.

[rubykatewriting.livejournal.com]

In a somewhat similar vein to Three Books, the CBC does a battle of the books every year, with celebrities championing books of their choice, until they get down to one book and Canada is supposed to read it.
That is so fucking awesome. I can't even imagine something like that taking place down here.